[pprevill]

Hello all,

I just buy my first BMW (2013 x3 35i), the car is totally amazing.

I was reading a lot lately on how to keep the battery in good shape since I'm doing only a few miles each day.

Ideally, I like to do a permanent connection with 'ctek confort cable' to charge the battery a couple of time each month. I'm looking for an easy solution to hook a ctek charger to the charging post in the hood but don't know if the ctek cable will fits ? They seem to have 3 options on their web site :

Choose M6 for smaller batteries like motorcycle/lawn tractor.
Choose M8 for top post batteries.
Choose M10 for side post batteries.

Someone has already hook one of these in the front post of the x3 ?

Also did you use 'cold mode' type charging ? Seems to be best for agm batery but not so clear since not all battery vendor listed ?

Thank you !

[Peter_R]

I am a UK X3 driver with a late 2013 X3 xDrive30d MSport fitted with the heavy duty 110 amp/hr battery and I am currently using a CTEK MXS 5.0 charger. See this link...

http://www.ctek.com/cy/en/chargers/12v

Because I am on holiday in the Dominican Republic for 2 months, I have mine permanently on charge, so that it is fully maintained and good to go on my return.
I use the standard crocodile cables supplied with my UK version[COMFORT CONNECT CLAMPS] and just clipped to the posts under the bonnet (hood).

I checked before I left the country and the charger is running in maintenance mode. No further action required.

Also did you use 'cold mode' type charging ? Seems to be best for agm batery but not so clear since not all battery vendor listed ?

Thank you !

Just follow the instructions supplied with the product and the sophisticated electronics of the CTEK will do what is necessary because it is continually monitoring the battery condition.

Why should you worry about the battery vendors listed? With this 2013 vehicle you should only be using the BMW AGM lead acid battery that comes with it.

[Tjalle]

Since CTEK is a Swedish product, and I am also using a 5.0, I can support what Peter claims.

[///Mposter]

I used the ctek 4.3 mus on winter mode . I also used the alligator clips to charge. I will however install the hard line connections to my 335i first and then to the X3. It's probably a fairly similar install location.

[pprevill]

Originally Posted by ///Mposter

I used the ctek 4.3 mus on winter mode . I also used the alligator clips to charge. I will however install the hard line connections to my 335i first and then to the X3. It's probably a fairly similar install location.

Will you hook the hard line in the hood or directly on the battery ? Do tou know which connector to use 'M?' ? My goal is to plug the car without opening the hood...

I will probably buy the Polar CTek since it its so cold around here, look like it is the same thing of the 4.3.

[pprevill]

Originally Posted by Peter_R

I am a UK X3 driver with a late 2013 X3 xDrive30d MSport fitted with the heavy duty 110 amp/hr battery and I am currently using a CTEK MXS 5.0 charger. See this link...

http://www.ctek.com/cy/en/chargers/12v

Because I am on holiday in the Dominican Republic for 2 months, I have mine permanently on charge, so that it is fully maintained and good to go on my return.
I use the standard crocodile cables supplied with my UK version[COMFORT CONNECT CLAMPS] and just clipped to the posts under the bonnet (hood).

I checked before I left the country and the charger is running in maintenance mode. No further action required.



Just follow the instructions supplied with the product and the sophisticated electronics of the CTEK will do what is necessary because it is continually monitoring the battery condition.

Why should you worry about the battery vendors listed? With this 2013 vehicle you should only be using the BMW AGM lead acid battery that comes with it.

Thanks for your help ! For the vendor list I saw on ctek website that for some agm battery vendor it is prefered to use 'snowflake mode' here is the reference from ctek website :

Q. I have an AGM battery. Do I charge it in snowflake mode?
A. It depends. Optima and Hawker recommend snowflake mode. If there is no indication on the battery, use car mode for batteries over 14Ah or MC mode for batteries under 14Ah.

[Peter_R]

Originally Posted by pprevill

Will you hook the hard line in the hood or directly on the battery ? Do tou know which connector to use 'M?' ? My goal is to plug the car without opening the hood...

You must NOT connect the charger directly to the battery. You could cause irreparable damage to the car/battery.

Same applies trying to charge it through the cigarette lighter.

The negative and positive posts are under the bonnet (hood) for this very reason.

[Peter_R]

Originally Posted by pprevill

Thanks for your help ! For the vendor list I saw on ctek website that for some agm battery vendor it is prefered to use 'snowflake mode' here is the reference from ctek website :

Q. I have an AGM battery. Do I charge it in snowflake mode?
A. It depends. Optima and Hawker recommend snowflake mode. If there is no indication on the battery, use car mode for batteries over 14Ah or MC mode for batteries under 14Ah.

You MUST follow the instructions for a BMW installed battery and let the CTEK battery charger sort it out. It has sophisticated electronics to do this and all you need to do is set it for 12 volts. It is a heavy duty battery and is 110ah in the UK. It will be very similar battery supplied by BMW in your part of the world.

Edited.

Just saw the model you are talking about in this link

http://www.etrailer.com/Battery-Char...CTEK56864.html

It would be appropriate to use the snowflake mode in very cold conditions.

Do not repeat do not connect directly to the battery, it must be connected to the posts under the hood so that it goes through the car's electrical system.

[pprevill]

Thank you ! I just ordered the charger ! I will post results, hope evrything will go smooth !

[lbjgh]

I don't get the need for a charge on a new car... to each their own.

-30C here this morning and the battery is fine. I drive a minimum of 30km per day though.

[Peter_R]

Originally Posted by lbjgh

I don't get the need for a charge on a new car... to each their own.

-30C here this morning and the battery is fine. I drive a minimum of 30km per day though.

Sorry that is not correct. If you only do short runs and load the battery during these runs then you need to keep up a maintenance charge in the periods in between.

The X3 charging system when running normally is only designed to charge to 80% of full battery capacity, so when you brake or overrun (say downhill or under breaking),your battery has the ability to absorb the electrical power created by this regeneration process.

If cars are stored or in showrooms for 1 month then dealers MUST charge these batteries. The cars electronics record this event. If the dealer does not do this, then BMW will not reimburse the dealer in the event of a battery failure.

Note. BMW sell a trickle charger for this specific reason. Guess who makes it? You guessed it...CTEK! It is rebranded as BMW!

BMW advised me to keep mine on trickle charge because it is not being used for 60 days.

[plymjack]

We generally only use the car at weekends, and sometimes miss one or 2. We do find if we dont start the car regularly then it does report that the battery is low, and this can take a long run (over 30mins and sometimes even longer) to get get sorted.
Dont believe those who say running it for 5mins fully recharge the battery it does not and regular short runs will reduce the battery capacity.

[Peter_R]

Originally Posted by plymjack

We generally only use the car at weekends, and sometimes miss one or 2. We do find if we dont start the car regularly then it does report that the battery is low, and this can take a long run (over 30mins and sometimes even longer) to get get sorted.

Exactly! That happened to me several times.

Originally Posted by plymjack

Dont believe those who say running it for 5mins fully recharge the battery it does not and regular short runs will reduce the battery capacity.

It will not reduce the battery capacity, but will reduce the level to which it is charged to.

Hence the need to trickle or maintenance charge the same as the garages do. See my previou reply.

Solution as stated previously, purchase an intelligent battery charger.

[lbjgh]

I'm sorry that is correct.

No issues at all with my car or its battery.

Thanks anyway.

Originally Posted by Peter_R

Sorry that is not correct. If you only do short runs and load the battery during these runs then you need to keep up a maintenance charge in the periods in between.

The X3 charging system when running normally is only designed to charge to 80% of full battery capacity, so when you brake or overrun (say downhill or under breaking),your battery has the ability to absorb the electrical power created by this regeneration process.

If cars are stored or in showrooms for 1 month then dealers MUST charge these batteries. The cars electronics record this event. If the dealer does not do this, then BMW will not reimburse the dealer in the event of a battery failure.

Note. BMW sell a trickle charger for this specific reason. Guess who makes it? You guessed it...CTEK! It is rebranded as BMW!

BMW advised me to keep mine on trickle charge because it is not being used for 60 days.

[pprevill]

Just ordered the 'polar version' of the 4.3 (seem to be the same thing of the mx 5 in europe) :

http://smartercharger.com/products/b...mus-4-3-polar/

With those cable :

http://smartercharger.com/products/a...mfort-connect/

I will try to make the connection to the charging post in the hood permanent to avoid using the clamp , and , if is possible to do something where the cable will be not so apperent, if i could not open the hood at all it would be perfect.

[Jypsie]

Quick question. I have an X4, but believe it is pretty similar to the latest X3. I was wondering how to connect (hard wire) the CTEK. I noticed I have a ground connection, but I noticed 2 positive connections underneath the hood. One is quite a bit smaller then the other, and the smaller one is 10-15 cm above the bigger one and offers a M6 (I believe) connection.

If I would have to jump start the car I would use the ground and the big positive one. Now my question is can I use the ground and the SMALL positive connection to connect the CTEK comfort M6 cable?